Methodius (Gerasimov) of Harbin

His Eminence, Methodius (Gerasimov) of Harbin was a hierarch of the Church of Russia who was among those who migrated to Manchuria as a result of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. In Manchuria, he became Bishop of Harbin.

Life

Mavriky Lvovich Gerasimov was born on February 22, 1856 in Tomsk Province, in western Siberia, into a family of a priest. He attended and graduated from the Tomsk Seminary before enrolling, in 1878. in the Kazan Theological Academy in Kazan, Russia. He graduated from the academy in 1882. On December 23, 1882, he joined the Altai Mission as a church singer. Altai is a mountainous area of Siberia in central Asia.

Having chosen a monastic life, Mavriky was tonsured a monk on September 26, 1885 with the name of Methodius. During the same year, he was ordained a deacon, followed on December 22 with ordination as a hieromonk. At the time of his ordination as a hieromonk, he was assigned the duty of coordinator at the Altai Missionary Catechetic School. On January 30, 1892, he was awarded his doctor of philosophy degree in Theology.

On May 16, 1894, Fr. Methodius was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. On June 2 of the same year, he was consecratedBishop of Biysk, a vicar of the Tomsk Diocese. He was consecrated in the city of Tomsk by Bp. Macarius of Tomsk, with assistance by the bishop of Tambov and other bishops. On July 16. 1894, he was appointed Head of the Altai Mission.

During the following years Bp. Methodius was assigned as ruling bishops at a series of sees. These were, on December 24, 1898, as Bishop of Trans-Baikal and Nerchinsk, then, on December 20, 1912, as Bishop of Tomsk and Altai, both in Siberia. On July 30, 1914, Bp. Methodius was assigned as Bishop of Orenburg and Tirgaysk in the area of the southern Ural mountains of Russia. During the Paschal season of 1918, Bp. Methodius was raised to the rank of archbishop.

As the Russian White army forces retreated during the civil war, Abp. Methodius migrated to eastern Asia during 1919, finally reaching Harbin, Manchuria. In 1920, he was named Archbishop of Harbin. In the 1920s, as order came to the Orthodox community in Manchuria following the defeat of the Russian White army, most of the senior Russian clergy united under the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia under Metr. Anthony, Abp. Methodius included.